Nokia takes a second shot at building an Internet Tablet you'll actually want …

The return of the Internet Tablet

Many a geek was excited when Nokia announced the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet in late 2005. Its form factor, functionality, and price indicated to me that my dream device had arrived. When I finally purchased one and reviewed it, my dreams were dashed. While attractive, the Nokia 770 was underpowered, leading to sluggish performance. The menu navigation was not thought out well, and some of the applications felt unfinished.

Nokia released an OS update—Internet Tablet OS 2006—in mid-2006 that addressed some of the 770's problems while adding a new on-screen thumb keyboard. Unfortunately, no amount of code optimization was able to cover up the slow CPU and meager RAM.

With little advance notice, Nokia released the 770's successor at the beginning of 2007, the Nokia N800. Is it powerful enough to rekindle the fires of gadget lust or will it be another heartbreaker?

Changes

The Nokia N800 retains the same size and form factor as the 770, but in a slightly smaller package. It also costs $40 more. The button layout is roughly the same, with the scrollpad, back, menu, and home buttons all on the front. The power button has been relocated to the top of the unit next to the zoom in, zoom out, and full screen mode buttons. The right side has the headphone and power adapter jacks along with the stylus. On the right side is the new VGA camera for video chatting (more on that later). The bottom features an SD card slot. That slot is covered by the stand, which is now integrated into the device. Nokia's focus on good design is apparent with the N800, and it's a sexy-looking little gadget.

Inside, the N800 is a slightly different beast than its predecessor. The 250MHz TI 1710 OMAP CPU has been replaced with another ARM processor, the TI OMAP 2420, which is clocked at 330MHz. There's now 128MB of SDRAM included along with an additional 256MB of Flash RAM. Expandability has more than doubled over the 770 with the addition of a second memory card slot capable of handling SD, MicroSD, MiniSD, MMC, and the RS-MMC cards used in the 770.

Like the 770, the N800 runs the Debian-based Internet Tablet OS, in this case, Internet Tablet OS 2007.

The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

Nokia has chosen a slightly different design aesthetic with the N800, one which I think enhances the look of the device. The front bezel is now metallic with a speaker grille covering the bottom half of the bezel. The buttons on the front have been placed closer together, but are still very easy to use. The whole package weighs in at 7.5oz.

Top view with the stylus. Power button is on the left with the zoom and full-screen buttons to the right

The bottom of the N800 with the SD slot. The handle covers the slot when closed

The back of the N800 with the cover removed. The included 128MB miniSD is installed